I presently own a bone stock 01 Fender American Series Tele
(white blond, over ash w/ maple board). It is a great guitar and as much as I have thought about modifying it (Callham bridge), I cannot bring myself to fo it.

That said, a few months ago, I played an Ash G&L Asat (#4 neck) ebony board that was superb.

I think that it's tons of fun to take an American Fender tele and tweak it. My most recent project was adding a Pigtail vintage bridge with brass compensated saddles, 4-way Acme Guitarworks switching with volume kit and Fralin P-92/Blues Special pickups. I just can't put it down. It is an incredible sounding Tele now, and I can't imagine one with better tone....... but the quest contiues......next one will have two P-92's.

Ditto: I'm with Lex on this one. I've put together a handful of teles & strats over the years from various after martket parts. The chambered tele body and neck USACG made for me surpass anything ( for my taste ) before or since.

The main key is knowing what specs you want body/neck/pickup/hardware wise before starting. My prior homebrews, while good, were pretty much "stick together what I could find" offerings. Nailing down the specs that suit my needs produced a killer guitar that thrills me everytime I play it.

I'm gonna withhold my final answer until my two custom Kolls come at the end of the month...

As far as off-the-shelf production models, I think G&L's are superb instruments in every way. I also really like the Teles made by Melancon, Trussart and Grosh but they're a little more "custom shop", yes?